Our Impact

Successful businesses are adaptive and resilient. Everyday, businesses all over the world defy the odds to start new enterprises. Rapid transformation is the new normal and it’s being driven by... Successful businesses are adaptive and resilient. Everyday, businesses all over the world defy the odds to start new enterprises. Rapid transformation is the new normal and it’s being driven by powerful technology that fits in the palm of your hand – mobile. In the latest Future of Business Survey, an ongoing collaboration between Facebook, the OECD and the World Bank, 42% of businesses told us that they learn from each other, second only to online searches (64%).

In the past, only large multinationals could effectively scale globally. Today, small businesses have a menu of digital tools that allow them to leverage global connections and market directly to... In the past, only large multinationals could effectively scale globally. Today, small businesses have a menu of digital tools that allow them to leverage global connections and market directly to potential customers all over the world. In this report, we investigate how online tools play a role in SMEs' ability to trade internationally and, consequently, to grow. To respond to these issues, we added a new module to the Future of Business survey over the period March-May 2017, from which we obtained responses from 49,081 SMEs.

The diversity of data on human settlements, infrastructure, and population continues to grow rapidly, with recent releases of data products based on a range of different remote sensing data sources as... The diversity of data on human settlements, infrastructure, and population continues to grow rapidly, with recent releases of data products based on a range of different remote sensing data sources as well as census and administrative data. We report here on recent improvements in data from the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) and partner organizations, aimed at supporting both interdisciplinary research and real-world applications.

The Future of Business survey is a collaboration between Facebook, the OECD and the World Bank to provide monthly data to policymakers on the perceptions and challenges of online small and... The Future of Business survey is a collaboration between Facebook, the OECD and the World Bank to provide monthly data to policymakers on the perceptions and challenges of online small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the world. Launched in February 2016, the monthly survey provides a pulse on the economic environment in which businesses operate.

The mobility patterns and trip behavior of people are usually extracted from data collected by traditional survey methods. However, these methods are generally costly and difficult to implement... The mobility patterns and trip behavior of people are usually extracted from data collected by traditional survey methods. However, these methods are generally costly and difficult to implement, especially in developing cities with limited resources. This paper proposes a method based on proven techniques to extract the origin–destination (OD) trips from the raw CDR data of mobile phone users and process the data to capture the mobility of those users.

Traditional means for contacting emergency responders depend critically on the availability of the 911 service to request help. Affected citizens are increasingly using social media to obtain and... Traditional means for contacting emergency responders depend critically on the availability of the 911 service to request help. Affected citizens are increasingly using social media to obtain and disseminate information. Social media is not only being used to communicate with first responders but also for people to organically volunteer and seek help from each other, complementing the role of first responders. Our analysis indicates that social media can potentially help in disaster management and improve outcomes.